Switching system



March 23, 1948. L. HEGY K 2,438,283

SWITCHING SYSTEM Filed Jan. l5, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 o o @Ik fm qm2? /bb t b' o o/ I K 9b 2f 22,

o Ti o INVENToR. LOUIS HEGY BY ATTORNEY j UNITED STATES lPATENT OFFICE SWITCHING SYSTEM Louis Hegy, Burbank, Calif., assigner to Bendix Aviation Corporation, South Bend, Ind., a corporation of Delaware Application January 13, 1945, Serial No. 572,644

This invention relates to electrical control systems for selectively controlling the movement of a shaft, carriage, or the like, in either direction, into any one of a plurality of predetermined Claims. (Cl. 318-33) associated with each station must be operated successively, instead of simultaneously, and the interval must be greater than the greatest coasting movement of the member; otherwise the positions hereinafter referred to as stations. 5 member might hunt back and forth through the An object of the invention is to provide a parselected station instead of stopping. In practice, ticularly reliable and effective switching circuit it has been difiicult to devise switching systems and mechanism for control systems of this type. that would be free from hunting under varying A more specific object is to provide a switch conditions of service, and that Would also stop mechanism and circuit for such control systems the object accurately at the station irrespective that will stop the moving object at the same of the direction of movement. intermediate station when approaching that sta- It has been most common practice in previous tion from either direction, without the risk of systems for automatically stopping objects at inhunting. termediate stations to employ switching devices Another specic object is to provide a satisl5 ofthe commutator and brush type, in which relafactory switching mechanism and circuit, for tive movement was effected between the brushes such control systems, that utilizes cam-actuand commutators in synchronism with the moveated snap-action switches for automatically ment of the object to be controlled. Brushes and stopping the moving object instead of employing commutators have the practical disadvantages of commutators and brushes. being subject to excessive arcing and burning Another object is to prevent hunting of the when they break a motor circuit carrying appremovable member back and forth through a staciable current. In addition, brushes and comtion in the event of' excessive overrunning or mutators break the circuit in the same posicoasting after the driving power has been distion when moving in one direction that they close connected. the circuit when moving in the opposite direc- It is old to provide devices such as elevators tion. As will be explained more fully hereinwith automatic control so that by the proper after, there are advantages in having a time lag movement of a master selector switch, or pushin the operation of the contact mechanism when button, the member will be set into motion tomoving in one direction as compared to the oper- Ward a desired station and will be automatiation in the other direction. cally stopped when it reaches the station by a In accordance with the present invention, I switch actuated in synchronism with the movehave eliminated the afcre-mentioned disadvanment of the device. Similar systems are useful tages of commutators and brushes, and have atfor the remote control of objects that are to be tained certain additional advantages, by emmoved into any one of several predetermined ploying snap-action switches actuated by cams positions or stations. which are driven in synchronism with the mov- Where such devices are to be moved in either ing member. One additional advantage is that direction between two end .positions it is neces- I am able to utilize the inherent lost motion of sary to have two separate switches associated snap-action switches to obtain accurate stopping with each station, for de-energizing the driving of the moving member at a station irrespective member during movement in both directions. of the direction from which the member ap- Thus, when the moving member moves into one proaches the station, without increasing the risk station from one direction, a switching device of hunting. The manner in which this object is must be actuated for stopping the movement in achieved, together with other specific objects and that direction without preventing the reverse features of the invention, will become apparent movement of the member out of that station, from the following detailed description of an emand a second switch must be provided for perbodiment of the invention illustrated in the atforming a similar function when the member is tached drawing in which; moving into the same station from the other Fig. 1 isa general layout of apparatus that may direction. 50 be employed in practicing the invention;

Both these switches must be associated with Fig. 2 is a detailed sectional view showing one the same master switch if a single master switch type 0f snap-action Switch that may be employed is to be employed for moving the member into in the system, the section being taken in the the desired station irrespective of its previous plane II-II of Fig. 3; position. As a result, the two switching devices v Fig. 3 is a view of the switch shown in Fig. 2,

contacts 21 and 26 of switch |81) and through the upper contacts of switch |8d to the motor through eld winding 519, which ran the motor in such direction as to rotate the hand H clockwise, as indicated by the arrowv, and the motor was stopped with the hand l i at station B by reversal of the switch |31) by the cam |51). Thus, it will be observed thatthe plunger 35 of switch |81) rests on the high part or" cam lill), whereas the plunger of switch ibl) is still on the low part of cam lb). With the switches mb and |81)1) in opposite positions, the circuit from contact 45h to field winding t9 is broken by switch |81), and the circuit from 551) to iield winding 41 is broken by switch |8b1).

Assume now that the movable contact lill of the selector switch is moved onto contact 45e. This completes a circuit through the upper contacts ofswitches itcc and itc and through the upper contacts oi switch 8d and through the eld winding 49, causing the motor to again operate in direction to rotate the hand clockwise, which motion will be stopped by the reversal of switch lcbycamiic; f

On the other hand it is desired to move the hand from the position shown in Fig. 1 back to stationY A, then the movable Contact il'li of the selectors-switch is moved onto contact 45a, completing a circuit through thevupper contacts ci switchlc; and the field winding 1, which r0- tates themotor in direction .to carry the hand counterclock-wise, as indicated by the arrow 5|,

the-motion being stepped by the reversal oi switch Ita byy cam Isa when the station A.

Itis important to note thatwhenever the hand is on the left side of station B, the cams |91) and |9121) close the upper contacts of switches |81) and |81)1), so that if the contact 44 of the selector switch is moved onto the contact i351), a circuit will be completed through the eld winding 49 to rotate the hand l I clockwise toward station B. Contrariwise, whenever the hand is to theright oi station B, the cams |531) and |951) will have actuated both switches |81) and Ib) to close their lower contacts and complete a circuit from contact 451) through the iield winding 41 oi the motor to move the hand counterclockwise toward station B.

It will be noted that whenever the selector switch contact ill is on contact 451), the switches |81; and |81)1) must be in opposite states to break the circuit. Ii, following the reversal of the switch l 31) by the cam |91), the motor should coast or overrun far enough to cause the cam |9bb to reverse the switch iibl), the motor would be reenergized through the lield winding 41, causing it to start up and run in the reverse direction until it again reversed the switch |8b1). Conceivabiy, the motor might then coast far enough to reverse switch lh, and the overall result would be that the motor would run successively in opposite directions, causing the hand to hunt back and forth past station B.

The possibility of such hunting is reduced, in accordance with the invention, by the fact that the switches i3 have lost motion. Thus, appreciable movement of the plunger 35 is required to cause the contacts 30 to snap from their upper to their lower positions. The manner in which this reduces the likelihood of hunting will be explained with reference to the schematic diagrams of Figs. 5 to 8 respectively.

Figs. 5 to 8 show the switches |81; and |81)1) actuated by reciprocating cams |911' and |91)1)',

hand reaches which are the equivalents of the rotary cams |96 and |9bb respectively. They are shown as reciprocating cams only in the interest oi simplicity. However, such reciprocating cams could be driven by a pinion 22 substituted for the bevel gear 22, and a rock 2|' substituted for the bevel gear 2| of Fig. 1.

In Fig. 5 the cam is in the position corresponding to that shown in Fig. 4, in which the switch |81) has just been reversed by the cam |9b. It will be observed that the plunger ci the switch |8b is almost, but not quite, to the top of the rise on cam |91)'. On the other hand, the plunger of switch |81)1) is near the lower end of the rise on cam lllbb, and the switch would not be actuated until the cam was moved into the position shown in Fig. 6, in which the plunger is near the top of the rise on cam |91)1)'. The movement of the cam between the positions shown in Figs. 5 and 6 respectively can be made suiiciently great to insure that it is greater than the greatest possible coasting movement of the motor.

Fig. 7 shows the cam moving back to the left, in which the plunger of switch ISbZ) is near the lower end of the rise on cam lgbb and the switch has been reversed. It will be noted that the cam is in the same position in Fig. 7 as in Fig. 5, and that although in Fig. 5 switch |31) has been actuated and switch |8171) has not been actuated, the reverse is true in Fig. 7, switch |81) having not yet been actuated although switch |8131) has been. Switch |8b will not be actuated until the cam has been moved suiciently farther to the left as shown in Fig. 8, to bring the plunger of slwligtch |81) to the lower end of the rise on cam If the mechanism can be stopped very quickly, the cam setting illustrated in Figs. 5 to 8 will resuit in the hand stopping accurately at the station irrespective of the direction of movement. This condition is usually diicult to obtain, and some allowance is made for coasting of the motor, by so adjusting the cams as to actuate the first switch, to stop the motor, slightly ahead of the desired station. This can be done without danger of hunting, because oi the lag in operation of the switches.

The drawing is largely schematic and for simplicity shows an indicator hand which would oier very little resistance to the driving motor, so that the extent of coasting movement following opening of the motor circuit would be determined very largely by the inertia of the system, particularly where no brake is employed. In actual practice, the present invention is usually employed to drive some device, such as a valve or the like, which oiers considerable frictional resistance to movement, and the resistance of the load itself quickly stops the motion when the current to the motor is cut off. Sometimes, however, the load on the motor varies so that the extent of the coasting movement varies substantially.

An important advantage of the present invention, incorporating the snap action switches I8 having lost motion, is that the cams can be set to stop the driven device accurately at the desired position or station when the load is heavy, without danger of hunting when the load is light.

Various departures from the exact construction shown and described can be made without departing from the invention which is to be limited only to the extent set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a system of the type described, a member to be moved in either direction past an intermediate station in a predetermined position and means for moving it comprising: a reversible driving motor having two circuits for rotating it in opposite directions respectively; a pair of switches associated with said station for controlling stopping of said member at said station, each switch having rst contacts which it closes in a first state and having second independent contacts which it closes in a second state; means for successively actuating the two switches of each pair from their rst to their second states as said member moves through the associated station in one direction and for successively actuating them in inverse sequence from their second to their first states as said member moves through the associated station in the opposite direction; a current source; and means including a master selector switch for connecting the rst contacts of said two switches in series with said source and one of said .motor circuits and connecting the second contacts of said two switches in series with said source and the other motor circuit; whereby one motor circuit is energized when both switches are in said iirst state, the other motor circuit is energized when both switches are in said second state, and neither circuit is energized through said two switches when they are in opposite states.

2. A system as described in i including end stations at the limits of movement of said member in opposite directions, limit switches associated with said two end positions, each limit switch being normally closed and connected in series with that one of said motor circuits that moves said member toward the associated end position, and means responsive to movement o1 said member into each end position for opening the associated limit switch.

3. A system as described inl claim 1 in which each of said two switches associated with said intermediate station is or" the snap-action type which snaps directly from rst to second state and vice versa, a pair of cams for actuating said switches, said cams beine coupled with said mov@ able member for movement in synchronism there'. with and the two cams being 'so timed that'oue cam actuates its switch 'from tiret to second state before the other cam actuates its switch 'from first to second state, during movement of the member in one direction past the associated sta tion., and the other cam actuates its switch from second to first state before said one cam actuates its switch from second to first state, during movement of said member in the reverse direction past said station.

4. A system as described in claim l in which each of said two switches associated with said intermediate station is of the snap action type having lost motion, and a pair of cams for actuating said switches, the cams being displaced :rom each other to provide a lag approximately equal to the lag due to lost motion of said switches.` whereby said member is stopped accurately at said station in both directions of movement while permitting substantial overrunnin'g of said member without hunting.

5. A system as described in claim i including a plurality of intermediate stations in predetermined spaced positions, each station having a pair of switches associated therewith as described for said first-mentioned station, said mas tei' selector switch having' a plurality of posi tions corresponding to the positions of seid inter mediate stations for selectively connecting the ilrst contacts of the two switches of any pair in series with said source and one of said motor circuits and simultaneously connecting the second contacts of the same two switches in series with said source and the other motor circuiti LOUIS HEGY.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Powell -r.- Sept. 22, 1936 Number March 23, 1948. J. E. HUBER FILM RETAINER Filed Sept.l 11, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENToR. JHN EUGENE HUBER.

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